Director Sean Baker, winner of the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes International Film Festival [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]
At the 77th Cannes International Film Festival, American director Sean Baker's film Anora won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, on the 25th (local time).
Director Baker received the Palme d'Or for the first time. He first gained attention with Tangerine and was invited to the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes with The Florida Project. Later, he entered the competition section with Red Rocket.
Baker has presented films focusing on socially vulnerable groups such as transgender individuals and children from crisis families. Anora depicts the story of a young female stripper who marries a Russian tycoon and begins to face threats to her married life from her in-laws. In his acceptance speech, Baker said, "I have no idea what just happened," and dedicated the award "to all sex workers."
The film received high praise after its premiere, earning a near-top score of 3.3 stars on Screen Daily, which calculates ratings based on scores from film media worldwide.
The second prize, the Jury Prize, was awarded to All We Imagine As Light, directed by Indian female director Payal Kapadia. The film tells the story of two women working as nurses in Mumbai who go on a trip.
French director Jacques Audiard received the Jury Award for Emilia Perez. The lead actresses Adrianna Paz, Carla Sofia Gascon, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldana jointly won the Best Actress Award. It is unusual for one film at Cannes to win two major categories and for four actresses to share the Best Actress Award. Emilia Perez tells the story of a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes gender reassignment surgery to evade authorities and the women who assist him.
The Best Director Award went to Miguel Gomes for Grand Tour, and the Best Screenplay Award was given to Coralie Fargeat for the script of The Substance.
Veteran actor Jesse Plemons won the Best Actor Award for Yorgos Lanthimos's Kinds of Kindness.
Director Mohammad Rasoulof was honored with the Special Screenplay Award for The Seed of the Sacred Pig.
Iranian director Rasoulof fled to Europe and sought asylum after being sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging, fines, and asset confiscation for not requiring actresses to wear hijabs in the film. He attended the Cannes Film Festival despite these circumstances.
In his acceptance speech, he said, "The Iranian people are held hostage by the government," and expressed gratitude to the production team who could not attend the festival because they remain in Iran.
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